Imprinted in My Consciousness’: The Reason Gremlins 2: The New Batch Is My Comfort Movie
“Well, conditions are quite harsh here. We’re advising all of our clients to invest all their resources into canned food and shotguns.” This piece of wise counsel comes from the Brain Gremlin – a genetically modified, talking, spectacled member of the oozy monster mob that infests Manhattan’s high-tech Clamp Tower skyscraper in filmmaker Joe Dante’s unhinged continuation Gremlins 2: The New Batch. Superficially, it’s merely an financial suggestion from one monster to another. But, in a strange manner, it’s also surprisingly sturdy life advice. Honestly, hear me out.
When life takes a turn for the worse, the most counterproductive action you can do is view events with undue solemnity. The Brain Gremlin grasps this. Actually, the majority of the fang-bearing creatures that populate Dante’s unrestrained 1990 movie (possibly his finest) possess the same wry, meta funny bone regarding the blurry line separating daily routine and unadulterated chaos. It’s one element of Gremlins 2: The New Batch that maintains my loyalty – and as I age, it’s the underlying idea that strikes the deepest chord.
A Childhood Obsession
Understandably, my connection with this movie didn’t start on such an introspective level. Growing up, we possessed merely a few scratched-up video tapes at home. Among them were Gremlins and its follow-up, the latter housed in a chunky ex-rental box almost certainly acquired from an off-brand video shop and sporting growling monsters on its knackered cover. I was immediately enamoured and these films quickly proceeded inserting themselves inside my tiny, impressionable mind. From then on, they became an almost-daily part of my youthful watching schedule.
Dante’s initial installment typically gets all the plaudits, thanks mostly because of its status as a moderately spooky festive favorite – and to be fair, I’ve watched Gremlins an incalculable number of times. Nevertheless, its follow-up infrequently obtains the same level of elevated esteem, which feels unjust. As a kid, I’d never miss an opportunity to watch Gremlins 2. During sunny school summer breaks, I’d retreat into the house and pop it in. When I got my own TV-VHS combo unit, it continued playing looped in my bedroom. Over time, it ingrained itself in my mindset. If my parents noticed this obsession, they didn’t seem to mind.
Subtler Rewards and Cultural References
As I got older, new insights enriched repeat viewings, elevating the fun of watching small emerald creatures gleefully trash a New York high-rise. I learned the forward-thinking property magnate and Clamp Tower owner, Daniel Clamp (John Glover), was modeled closely on future president Donald Trump, with his auburn-haired worker Marla (Haviland Morris) alluding to his former spouse Marla Maples. Luckily, Clamp has more heart than his real-life counterpart.
The “doomsday” video Clamp plays during maximum monster mayhem? I discovered it was inspired by a real-life “Doomsday” video commissioned by the CNN boss Ted Turner should the world really ended. I noticed how Dante went out of his way to film different iterations of a self-referential segment where Gremlins seize control of the exact movie you are viewing. An edit for movie houses, another for home video and television, each delivering a smirking slice of fourth-wall-breaking cultural alchemy before the term was even a thing.
An Enduring Appeal
While it was creature designer Rick Baker’s fantastically vile creatures that captured my attention as a child, this deeper gold held my interest as an adult. Ultimately, I even interviewed Dante about it myself and he had no qualms revealing to me he made the movie with the direct intention of ridiculing those who loved its goofy-but-heartfelt predecessor and craved further installments. “We were going to make fun of the fact you came to see it,” he happily revealed. This anarchic insubordination and resolve to not take his sequel as solemnly as his Warner Bros bosses clearly wanted him to, only made me love it even more.
When I endured a unexpected loss in the family earlier this year, I was taken aback to discover that, during my deepest grief, all I felt compelled to do was sit and watch Gremlins 2: The New Batch. Odd, no? Possibly not. The comforting familiarity it provided was needed to weaken my mind’s grief morass – but the insights it had bestowed upon me as an adult were similarly beneficial.
Like Gremlins running amok in a genetics laboratory, there’s particular aspects in life you just can’t control. Dante understands this. The Brain Gremlin shares this wisdom. Sometimes, you have to emulate them: embrace the chaos, put everything you’ve got into canned food and shotguns and try not to view the world with undue solemnity.
It’s strong life advice from a very unlikely source – and it’s the reason Gremlins 2: The New Batch will forever remain my feelgood film.
